Greener Leith

Ok, this isn't a photo of the soil in the Persevere Garden, but it might end up like this, if we have a dry summer. In the meantime, Fay, from the Leith Open Spaces group has posted a great update on the amazing progress that's been made already in the Persevere Community Garden. It's brilliant to hear that the fruit trees that we planted some weeks ago are already in bud.

Feedback that we're receiving from the site suggests that the soil in the garden is really poor quality. This is a problem we could solve if we had a van for transporting top soil. Do you know someone who has a van, or even a lorry, who can help? We'll provide the labour if you can provide the wheels! Please contact us if you have any ideas.

Regulars to Greener Leith meetings will know that we've been trying to establish a community garden in Leith for more than a year. Today was certainly a good day, as today saw the turning of the first sod in the Persevere Community Garden.  

From about 10.30am, we lopped, and we dug, and we fertilised and we cleared up about a million vodka miniature bottles, but by the end of it all we felt that we'd made an important first step on the way to getting the Persevere Community Garden going. Whilst it may be a few years before the rare variety apple and plum trees (donated by Greener Leith) that we planted bear fruit, they provide a good symbol of everyone's long term ambitions for the space.

There was a brilliant mixture of people from near and far, who all got stuck in - in fact we didn't have enough tools to go around. Special thanks should be reserved for Russell the local community concierge who managed to furnish us with stakes, and bins and black bags and keys, and to the people who came all the way from Piershill who are looking to set up a community garden of their own there.

Sara, from Upward Mobility and Charlotte from Greener Leith also deserve thanks for jumping in at short notice to be interviewed by Radio Scotland the previous day. Sadly, Linda who put in loads of work to promote the event around from the community flat couldn't be there. The Walnut Whips that she managed to persuade a local business to donate were certainly enjoyed by the windblown volunteers when we retreated to the community flat for some hard earned coffee. 

Later in the day, the Leith Neighbourhood Partnership awarded 'Green Seeds,' a project from Upward Mobility, a grant of £5207 to help them buy tools, plants and pay a sessional worker to support volunteers to grow food in the Persevere Garden. Their aim is to grow food on their patch of the garden for the cafe in the Duncan Place Resource Centre. I think everyone involved in the garden is looking forward to seeing vegetables growing in the garden, and we're especially keen to sample them later on in the year!

Contact us to find out how you can get involved in the Community Garden.